Tuesday, April 6, 2010

First of many....hopefully!

Who am i? Well, my name is Bayo Babalola, a 26 year old finance professional based in Nigeria. I currently work with a Private equity firm in Nigeria after spending two years as a portfolio manager with an investment boutique. I am also enrolled in the CFA program and scheduled to take (retake...insert red face) the level 2 exam in June.A blog? Why? Well, to tell the truth, i've been exploring the option of going to business school for a couple of years now, spending a lot of time reading student and alumni blogs of various schools. They have been quite helpful and i feel that i should contribute as well by documenting my experiences prior to, during and after business school.

Okay, so where am i now in the admissions process? Well, i have taken the GMAT and scored an almost miserable 670. I have however decided to take my chances with it. I don't feel the gains of a higher score would be worth the additional three months of study time to take the bloody exam again! Not to mention the additional $250! My time would probably be better spent trying to learn french or something.....not sure i can get away with yoruba as a second language in these bi-language schools! I have pretty much looked at every school from Thunderbird to St Gallen (http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/rankings/full_time_mba_profiles/) and have finally decided that LBS (London Business School) would probably be the right fit for me. So hopefully, this time next year, i would be celebrating an admit with my loyal readers (or my girlfriend, if as i expect, the former < 1!)

My greatest worry? Money! Money! Money! Let me break down my financial situation. Tution at LBS is currently about £50,000 (i expect this to be up to 55k by next year when i apply), throw in another 30k for living expenses. Moving to the right side of the balance sheet, i currently have a miserable £5k in savings, hopefully, i can miraculously increase that to £15k by the time i'm off to school, Throw in another 15k from my family, that leaves me with a £50k shortfall! Can i get enough in scholarships and loans to finance this? Do i want to leave the MBA with a £50k loan book especially if i have to come back to Nigeria to work? Why do i have to go to LBS? Why not the Thunderbird School of Global Management? After all, they are the best in International Business (or so i hear)! These are some of the questions i hope to have answered over the next year......